Mistress of Darkness
Mistress of Darkness as narrated by Katrina (Hero-U). Mistress of Darkness I look out my castle window at a world draped by the moonlight in mourning shrouds of greys and black. The trees of the surrounding forest clutch desperately to their dying leaves. How long has it been since I have seen the orange and red glow of the autumn oaks? Far too long, and never again. The price of eternal youth was more dear than I could ever have imagined. The wind whips the clouds as they frantically flee across the moon. It must be cold on this mid-autumn night. Is he safely tucked away in a warm bed at the inn right now, this new toy of mine? If he has any sense of self-preservation, he should be. I'm certain he has been warned of the many dangers of Mordavia (Hero-U). Too many harbingers of death stalk the woods while the sun cowers from the darkness. However, something bitter inside tells me that my "friend" is not so wise. Judging from what I have seen of him so far, he has probably forsaken the sanctuary of the town in some vain attempt at heroism. Disturbed by this premonition, I stride over to the mirror that reflects only this room and never me. I hold against that empty glass a single hair from his blond head that I took from him on our first meeting. As I speak the old words of power, the mirror grows black as the soul of Ad Avis. Then there is a flare of light, and I see my so-called hero wandering near the cemetery. Fool! That place is crawling with restless dead who crave the heat of fresh blood to ease the eternal cold of the grave. Even now, the rotting corpse of a revenant crawls out from under a desecrated gravestone and scutters to the top of a cenotaph where it waits to ambush the hero. Damnation - I've worked too hard to bring him here to allow the ghoul its feast. I will not have this pawn die before he serves my purpose. I will be the only one to warm myself on his lifeblood! I release the bonds that bind my physical form, and the world becomes a soft blur as I evaporate into the mist. I flow out of the window and down the castle wall. With a whisper, I summon the wind to drive me to the graveyard. I regain my own form in the shadow of the Borgov Crypt (Hero-U). There is the sound of conflict not far from here. I wrap myself in darkness and move toward the battle. There I watch as the revenant tears at my hero with its foul claws. I can see blood steaming down the hero's arm. Again, the revenant's claws slash at the hero's side, splattering blood across a gravestone. The blood so red and beautiful... so tempting. I turn from the seductive ruby droplets, and then I see his face. There is grim streaking his cheek, and his hair drips with sweat. His eyes, his brilliant blue eyes, burn with his determination and inner will. There is no sign of weakness in him. No, his strength comes from his heart, giving his weapon greater power. He glows in the night with the fire of his passion for life. Yet my hero has been injured. Already his breath is labored as he tries desperately to destroy the revenant before the blood loss weakens him further. I see no fear on his face, though.https://web.archive.org/web/20041217060003fw_/http://transolar.com:80/TSmistress.html Behind the scenes It seems that the story was to be multipart ending with "To be continued..." but only the first part was released. Lori has said possibly if all goes well she might finish it come Holloween 2019. The first part of the story was written before Mishel Baker started working on How To Be A Hero novels, and thus it seems to be focused on a single Hero story. However, Lori Cole has discussed that it would be unlikely that Katrina would summon all four heroes to Mordavia, but instead would have only summoned whom she perceived as the weakest of the heroes, and the easiest to manipulate. To this end she would have chosen to summon Falcon the Paladin, leaving his siblings behind in Tarna (Hero-U). They would have had to find their own methods to reach Mordavia to help rescue their brother (a strong possibility is they could have gained help from Kreesha). In this direction this story probably takes place very early in the story, before the rest of the family reaches Mordavia when Falcon was there alone. References Category:Alternate Canon Category:Articles (HTBAH)